영어로 읽는 고전 _ 헨리 하세의 시작
헨리 하세(Henry Hasse)의 "시작(The Beginning)"은 1960년대 초에 출간된 공상과학 단편소설이다. 이 서사는 선사시대 부족의 일원인 주인공 그랄(Gral)의 경험을 통해 발견, 원시적 생존, 그리고 기술 발전의 결과라는 주제들을 탐구한다. 이야기는 인류의 독창성이 무기 창조로 이어지는 변혁적 순간을 깊이 있게 다루며, 진보와 불가피한 갈등 모두의 무대를 마련한다.
이야기에서 부족민들 사이에서 약하고 작다고 여겨지는 그랄은 돌과 힘줄을 사용한 무기를 고안하여 그들의 사냥 능력을 향상시키는 방법을 우연히 발견한다. 이 혁신은 그가 거대한 곰 같은 강력한 사냥감을 쓰러뜨리면서 그에게 존경받는 "가져오는 자 그랄(Gral-the-Bringer)"이라는 칭호를 얻게 해준다. 하지만 고르와(Gor-wah) 부족이 이 새로운 기술을 채택하면서, 그것은 무의식적으로 경쟁의 부상으로 이어지고, 부족들 사이에 잔혹한 폭력과 파괴의 순환을 초래한다. 서사는 인간의 끊임없는 발명 추구가 계속해서 창조와 재앙을 동시에 촉진할 것임을 시사하는 성찰적 어조로 끝나며, 따라서 이야기를 인간 본성과 사회 진화에 대한 경고적 탐구로 틀을 잡는다.
Classics Read in English _ The Beginning by Henry Hasse
Henry Hasse's "The Beginning" is a science fiction short story published in the early 1960s that explores themes of discovery, primal survival, and the consequences of technological advancement through the experience of its protagonist Gral, a member of a prehistoric tribe. The story delves deeply into the transformative moment when human ingenuity leads to weapon creation, setting the stage for both progress and inevitable conflict.
In the tale, Gral, perceived as weak and small among the tribesmen, stumbles upon a method to enhance their hunting capabilities by devising a weapon using stones and sinew. This innovation earns him the respected title of "Gral-the-Bringer" as he brings down formidable prey like the great bear. However, as the tribe of Gor-wah adopts this new technology, it unconsciously leads to the rise of rivalries, resulting in a brutal cycle of violence and destruction among tribes. The narrative concludes on a reflective note, suggesting that humanity's relentless pursuit of invention will continue to spur both creation and catastrophe simultaneously, thus framing the story as a cautionary exploration of human nature and societal evolution.
Among the contents
In the purely cerebral sense, there was no particular point-of-sequence at which Gral could have been said to Know. The very causality of his existence was a succession of brute obedience to brute awareness, for it was only thus that one survived. There was the danger-sense on those days when the great-toothed cats roamed the valley, and the males-who-will-bring remained huddled and sullen in the caves above the great ledge; there was the hunger-sense when provender was low, and Gor-wah drove them out with grunts and gibes to hunt the wild-dogs and lizards and lesser beasts; and not infrequently there was the other sense, the not-hunger, when the bring had been exceptional and there was somnolence after the gorging.
Gral could not remember when he had experienced the latter, for it was the dictate of Gor-wah, the Old One, that who did not bring did not eat?not until the others had gorged.
